League is “Fiercely Committed” to Nation’s Voters, says Holder

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A new article came out yesterday in Ms. Magazine and a few other publications, called Blocking the Vote. The piece, like other recent news stories, details what the League and other voting rights groups have been ringing the alarm bells on for several years - a new wave of voter suppression laws passing state legislatures at an alarming rate. League President MacNamara's quote sums it up nicely, "The fact that this is being touted as a way of making the [election] system more secure....is just a false argument."

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This week, the League of Women Voters of South Carolina stood with allies to oppose a bill seeking to impose new requirements on independent groups that register voters. The proposal is strikingly similar to a Florida elections law passed last year that, among other things, placed onerous restrictions on voter registration efforts, and led the League of Women Voters to stop registration activities in Florida. Recent research has indicated that the Florida law has already dampened voter registration rates in the state. Barbara Zia, president of the South Carolina League of Women Voters, said the League opposes both bills and is particularly concerned about new rules for voter registration drives in South Carolina, which include fines of up to $1,000 for groups: "It's going to make it difficult or virtually impossible for the League of Women Voters to continue to register voters in South Carolina," she said. "The effect would be to suppress the vote."

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As presidential candidates pounded the campaign trail this week, the Florida League debuted an innovative “Be Ready to Vote” mobile campaign, designed to help inform Florida voters about their current registration status and increase voter turnout at the polls. Through these efforts, mobile phone users are prompted to enter their name and date of birth to check their voter status, update their voter information or have their questions answered by an elections official. What new technologies are you using to reach voters this year?